Klein's tone, one of having everything under control, was something Lux was all too familiar with—back in Demacia, when Lux had resolved to rescue Ino and change Demacia, Klein had used that exact tone to propose the plan that still had the Demacian nobles grateful to Lux.
Now, Klein had spoken up again, and Lux immediately realized that Klein was definitely ready once more.
As for the rare admission of failure just now, it was indeed merely a setup.
"So... the first thing is to hire people and clear out that Kallikan's you mentioned?"
"Exactly, that's the top priority," Klein said with a serious tone, "The assets in the laboratory will be the source of Zaun's transformation. Janna has always protected its integrity, even sacrificing a lot of faith for it, to the point where many Zaunites have forgotten the voice of the Azure Bird."
"What exactly is inside?" Lux frowned, "You said before that it was seeds?"
"They are seeds," Klein said nonchalantly, "Rune Tree seeds."
"Oh, Rune Tree seeds—wait!" Lux's eyes widened, "Rune Tree, are those the ancient, fossilized Rune Trees that were seen when Demacia was first established?"
"That's right, the main raw material for Petricite," Klein confirmed Lux's statement, "Kallikan's main work was the improvement and cultivation of Petricite trees."
"...This news is truly shocking." Even though she was mentally prepared for Klein's actions, Lux couldn't help but be dumbfounded after hearing about Kallikan's research content. "Why would you conduct such experiments in Zaun? And so long ago!"
"This involves some internal strife in Shurima at the time," Klein was unwilling to elaborate on the reasons for this, simply glossing over it with a brief sentence, "I believed there was a problem in Shurima at the time, but unfortunately, I couldn't change the situation alone, so I entrusted my students—mainly the more reliable ones—to begin researching the cultivation of Rune Trees, to see if a sufficiently reliable Rune Tree could be cultivated."
"And these in Demacia..."
"Are one of my achievements," Klein did not dwell further on this topic, "At that time, Zaun was still called Oshra Va'Zaun, an inconspicuous small city in northern Shurima, rich in underground water resources, and with many caves, very suitable for the lightless growth cultivation of Rune Trees."
"So, you want to develop Rune Tree planting in Zaun, and manufacture Rune Stones and rune steel?" Lux took a deep breath, slowly calming herself down, "But I always feel that Piltover people wouldn't be happy to see this. Think of Finn, Piltover people need Zaunites to do things they don't want to do."
"Rune Stones and rune steel are a complete waste of the Rune Tree," Klein sighed, "When Demacia was established, I really couldn't reveal more, because the Twilight God's envoys would raise their guard and try to find me as soon as they discovered the existence of the Rune Tree... That was truly a terrible history. The Rune Tree is not just material for making Rune Stones and rune steel."
"What about the Piltover people?" Lux blinked, "You must have a plan for that too, right?"
"Theoretically, the products of the Rune Tree and the Enlightenment Gems—they call them Hex Crystals—that Piltover people currently use are complementary," Klein omitted most of the theoretical Takedown, directly giving the conclusion, "The astonishing energy within Hex Crystal can be directly utilized by people through the secondary transmission of Rune Stones, but for this point, we still need specific experiments, which is why I've always hoped you could get some Hextech gems."
"Sorry, I was too busy talking to Jayce about his ideals before."
"But this point isn't urgent yet," Klein comforted, "Although the academy's channels are very exclusive, in reality, even Piltover's Hex Crystal is mined from Zaun. If it really comes down to it... starting with self-sufficient mining is not unacceptable."
"Then if we successfully take over Kallikan's, won't everything be fine?" Lux thought for a moment, feeling that the future seemed bright, "Planting trees in Zaun, then manufacturing Rune Stones—as long as we deal with potential interference from Piltover, Zaun's situation will improve!"
"It's not that simple," Klein couldn't help but smile upon hearing this, "Development can indeed solve many problems, but there are also some problems that development cannot solve. Don't look at Zaun as just a city; there's still so, so much that needs to change here..."
"..."
"..."
...
Klein once again began to refine and arrange his "Grand Plan."
Outside the The Last Drop, a white-haired boy was lying on the roof, covered in dust.
Inside the house, Klein was discussing plans to transform Zaun with Lux—and on the rooftop, Ekko was trying to eavesdrop on their plans.
Although Vander finally allowed Lux and Ino to live in the house where Vi, Powder, Mylo, and Claggor once lived, the four children were not very willing after hearing about it.
It's hard to say whether this was due to childish emotions or an aversion to outsiders, but after some discussion, they nominated Ekko to "gather intelligence."
Although Vi had the best skills among this group of children, she was being watched most closely by Vander recently and had no chance to leave their hiding place. In this situation, Ekko stepped forward without hesitation, stating that he could figure out the "outsider mage's conspiracy."
Ekko was familiar enough with the environment here. The The Last Drop itself had many useful gadgets, and he had even eavesdropped on many of Vander's little secrets. Monitoring two outsiders was simply a piece of cake, wasn't it?
Unfortunately, if it had been the day before, Ekko would indeed have had a good chance—but now, with Janna joining the team, Ekko's eavesdropping had been discovered immediately.
(Of course, precisely because he might be eavesdropped on, Klein had also held back from saying anything until he found Janna.)
Ekko, who had finally climbed onto the roof and was searching for the loose brick, was suddenly blinded by a gust of wind. Then, as he rubbed his eyes, another gust of wind blew, sending several wrapping papers to his feet.
With his vision obscured, Ekko stepped on them defenselessly, then tumbled down the roof, finally landing headfirst into the trash heap behind the house.
At the same time, the azure bird that had been standing on Lux's shoulder finally hopped and skipped, inserting the twig it held into the crack of the table, then flapped its wings, letting out a joyful chirp.
For Janna, Zaun being saved was a good thing, and Ekko falling headfirst into the trash heap was another good thing that made her happy.
Klein's Small Class · The Nature of Deities:
Believers are influenced by deities, and deities are often influenced in turn by their believers—Janna sometimes has a very "Zaun" side to her. This gentle and kind Guardian of Storms enjoys harmless pranks.